'Selfie' leads to burglar's arrest

CHULA VISTA, CA (CNN) -- A "selfie" taken by a church burglary suspect in California led to his quick arrest.

Police say an incriminating selfie was stored inside of a cell phone left at the scene of a church burglary. The 26-year-old in the photo is Adam Howe and Chula Vista police say after he took the picture, he broke into hilltop tabernacle church and took money. Capt. Lon Turner said, "There was a loss of approximately $10,000 in cash.. some purses... and a laptop computer."

Pictures of the pastor's office show some of the damage Howe allegedly caused by the time officers showed up on Monday. By Tuesday police had Howe in custody thanks to the cell phone left behind. Turner said, "We were able to identify a picture of one of the suspects involved in the burglary."

A closer look at the photo also gave away the suspect's location. Police say they came here just a couple miles away to Harborside Park and they found the suspect with a bunch of stolen items. Turner said, "We did recover some property from the suspect initially and then when we went and arrested two of his companions we found additional property in the tent they were staying in."

The pastor says most of the property has not yet been recovered though he's thankful for good police work and the break that led to the arrests. Turner said, "People's cell phones more and more are becoming their wallets and so it's certainly one of those things that helps benefit law enforcement."